"We have a lot of fans in this room, all over Toronto, all over Canada, all over the world and loosing him is tough," Rielly said.

His godfather was future Boston Bruins coach and general manager Harry Sinden, and Downie enjoyed the national pastime as both a die-hard Bruins fan and a goalie who took his B-level team to a provincial championship.

Downie's handwritten lyrics from the Hip's 1992 hit song Fifty Mission Cap are enshrined in the Leafs' players lounge.

"Bill Barilko disappeared that summer. He was on a fishing trip. The last goal he ever scored won the Leafs the Cup. They didn't win another till 1962, the year he was discovered," Downie sang.

The song tells the story of the Toronto Maple Leafs' 1951 Stanley Cup victory, and an unlikely hero in defenceman Bill Barilko, who died in a plane crash just a few months after he scored the winning overtime goal against the Montreal Canadiens. He went missing while flying back from a fishing trip in Quebec.

The song was released the year Barilko's number was formally hoisted to the rafters of the Air Canada Centre by the hockey club.

Former Leaf Doug Gilmour, who like Downie is a native of Kingston, Ont., also tweeted his condolences to the Downie family.

"Heartbroken today," Gilmour said. "Few Canadians touched this country like Gord Downie. Thank you for everything you gave us. My deepest condolences."